Nico (Ruin & Revenge #1)(82)
“You think Nonna Maria will feed us?” Frankie put out a hand holding them back as he checked the road.
Nico snorted a laugh. “She’ll be in her element. A house full of hungry men? It’s a nonna’s dream come true.”
“Well, at least there is one thing our families have in common.” Mia stepped out onto the street and clasped his hand.
“She’ll love you.” Nico gave Mia an encouraging smile as they walked up the sidewalk. She had worn a simple black dress—no skulls or chains, tears, ribbons or lace—and black shoes with heels in a bid to appear respectable for the meeting with his family. He didn’t mind the dress, although it wasn’t her, but he planned to fuck her wearing just the heels when they got back to his hotel. There was just something about Mia in heels that got his blood pumping.
Not that he needed any help. They had spent last night recovering from the meeting with Dante by testing the strength of the various pieces of furniture in Nico’s suite, including, just once, the bed. He had fucked her hard, loved her soft, and held her all night long wondering if it was possible to have it all—a woman he respected and admired, but wanted with an intensity that took his breath away—a Mafia wife and mistress all rolled into one.
“Uh no. I had two nonnas. I know what they’re like. She’ll probably ignore me because no woman is going to be good enough for her boy.” Mia reached up and gave Nico’s cheek a gentle nonna-style pinch.
Nico caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “Then she’ll be wrong.”
Nonna Maria came to the front door to greet them. She wore her usual red apron, her silver hair swept neatly back in a bun. Nico gave her the customary kisses, and introduced Mia.
“This is my new wife, Mia Cordano.”
Nonna Maria looked Mia up and down, then turned her back and walked away.
“She’s lovely,” Mia whispered. “I feel welcome already.”
Nico felt a surge of protective anger and put his arm around Mia’s shoulders. Whether this marriage lasted one day or one year, Mia was his wife, and any disrespect of her was a disrespect of him, whether it came from the cousin he hated or the nonna he loved.
Conversation halted when Nico led Mia into the dining room where Tony and Charlie Nails sat with the four capos in the family. “Permette che mi presenti mia moglie—May I introduce my wife, Mia Cordano.”
“Jesus Christ,” Tony finally spluttered, after a moment of stunned silence. “When I first heard about this, I thought it was a fucking joke. You really have some balls.”
“The size of my balls has never been in question.” Nico tossed a copy of the marriage certificate on the dining-room table.
“That piece of paper means nothing,” Tony snapped without giving it a glance. “We had an agreement with the Cordanos. Would you dishonor our family by making us go back on our word?”
“The agreement was for a marriage between the Cordanos and Toscanis. That agreement has been fulfilled.” He glanced over at Nonna Maria standing in the doorway to the kitchen. No words. No facial expression. No gestures. He hadn’t expected support from the rest of the family, but his nonna was like a second mother to him, and he had hoped she would accept Mia as part of his life.
“Not in a way the New York bosses approve.” Tony picked up his highball glass and drained the contents.
Nico’s skin prickled in warning, and he motioned for Luca to stand closer to Mia. He had expected an outburst from Tony, expressions of surprise from his men, but the cold, calm that had settled in the room had him itching to draw his weapon.
“She’s mine in every sense of the word.” Crude, he knew, but it needed to be said, although he suspected no one would believe he’d consummated the marriage over a sink in the filthy restroom of a dive bar.
“Do you really intend to challenge me?” Tony stood so quickly his chair toppled over. “Are you going to drag this family into a civil war? Did you really think a bastard can become the capofamiglia and head this family when there is a Toscani of pure blood who has been groomed to lead? I’ve been the underboss for fuck sake. No one knows how this family works better than me.”
Mia squeezed Nico’s hand, but he wasn’t leaving yet. Tony clearly had a card to play, and Nico wanted to see it. Tony was arrogant and impulsive, lacking the foresight, intelligence, and political awareness needed to be an effective leader. Nico would only have to push a few buttons to find out what was really going on.
“Better a bastard than a man who will destroy the family with his greed,” Nico shot back. “I have nine crews working for me, each with ten soldiers and not one of them is involved in the drug trade, nor are their associates, because drugs are the fastest way to bring the family down.” He was repeating what Tony already knew, but since both of them had declared as acting boss, the decision would come down to a vote by the five capos of the family, and he wanted them to know just how powerful he had become. In the event of a tie, Charlie Nails would have the deciding vote, and Nico knew which way the betraying bastard leaned.
“Drugs are where the money is at. This is the modern Mafia. We don’t need to rely on protection rackets, loan sharking, petty deals, and real-estate scams.” Tony smirked and looked to his men for support. “We don’t need to build up legitimate business portfolios to support the family because the traditional ways aren’t working anymore. I make more money in one week with my drug operation than you do in one month with all your rackets put together. And that’s what this business is all about. Money. Making it. Keeping it. Spending it. And making fucking more.”